Backlash Is Feared In Church Purchase

Archdiocese Fears Backlash Over House

Church officials are worried that publicity about the proposed purchase of a $430,000 house for Archbishop Daniel A. Cronin will hurt a $4 million charities appeal that starts this weekend.

To prepare parish priests and deacons for a possible backlash, the archdiocese has sent them a "fact sheet," arguing that it is less expensive to buy a house for the archbishop than to pay rent as his predecessor did.

Priests and deacons will appeal for contributions at Masses on Saturday and Sunday.

"Your presentation from the pulpit will be the major factor in helping to clarify any misperceptions of the house purchase, which misperceptions could prove to be a negative factor surrounding Appeal '92," said an accompanying memorandum from the Rev. Donald P. Clancy, campaign director.

Called the Archbishop's Annual Appeal, the $4 million campaign is the major fund-raising event of the year to support Catholic Charities/Catholic Family Services.

Last year Catholics in the 223 parishes of the archdiocese contributed $4,072,149, 20 percent more than the year before, said Thomas F. O'Brien Sr., development consultant. The goal this year is to equal the amount raised last year, he said.

The unusual communication from the archdiocese on the eve of the campaign shows the degree of concern aroused by news of the proposed purchase of the two-story house with swimming pool when Connecticut is in a deep economic slump.

It also coincides with heightened public sensitivity to high living in the wake of disclosures of the high compensation paid the head of United Way of America and to huge bonuses paid corporate leaders when thousands of workers are being laid off.

The Rev. Daniel J. Plocharczyk, Cronin's secretary, said the archdiocese would have no comment beyond the fact sheet and memo, copies of which were obtained by The Courant.

Cronin`s predecessor, Archbishop John F. Whealon, sold his predecessor's mansion on Prospect Avenue in Hartford in 1974. He lived in a two-room suite at St. Mary Home, a retirement facility in West Hartford.

Cronin, who was installed Jan. 28, has said he wanted a place where he could meet his priests privately and outside a cathedral rectory or other church area, where his presence could inhibit the staff.

The fact sheet, prepared by the Rev. Charles W. Daly, the archdiocese's fiscal officer, said most other bishops in neighboring New England dioceses live in separate residences.

It said the house at 36 Braintree Drive in West Hartford would be paid for by an investment fund set up in 1974 when the archbishop's residence was sold for $288,000. It had been bought in 1964 for $107,000.

"The monies realized from the sale of the residence were placed in an investment account which, through the years, has grown sufficiently to pay for the proposed residence," it said.

It described the home as "a two-story, unpretentious family type dwelling in a family type neighborhood. It has seven bedrooms, needed for the archbishop, his priest secretary, three nuns who will staff the residence, and two guest rooms. The swimming pool is not a requirement of the archdiocese. It happens to come with the house."

"No monies will be taken from the Archbishop's Annual Appeal or from contributions of the people of the Archdiocese of Hartford," the letter said, emphasizing the sentence by using all capital letters.

It cost the archdiocese $26,400 a year in room and board for Whealon to live in his two-room suite in the retirement home, the fact sheet said. Whealon died Aug. 2.

St. Mary Home is not an archdiocesan institution, but rather is owned and administered by the Sisters of Mercy.

"The rental portion of this expense, approximately $20,400 per year, provided no return or equity as would mortgage payments for the purchase of a home," the fact sheet said.

Whealon lived at St. Mary's for 22 years, it said. "The total rent expense in '91 charges was $448,800 -- $18,800 more than the purchase price of the house being considered for Archbishop Cronin."

It was unclear why the archdiocese used the 1991 rent to compute rent for 22 years. Presumably it was to adjust for inflation by rendering the cost in constant dollars. No estimate was made of the cost of maintaining the house proposed for the Archbishop and providing for the staff.

"In accounting terminology, the purchase of an episcopal [bishop's] residence would not be considered an expense. It would be considered an asset," the fact sheet said.

"It would be an investment expected to appreciate as did the residence for Archbishop [Henry J.] O'Brien. In contrast, the payment of rent for Archbishop Whealon was an expense that yielded no return," sheet said.

The archdiocese said in the present real estate market the property is considered a bargain at $430,000.

John W. Spaeth, director of administration and finance for the Episcopal Diocese of Connecticut, agreed. "It isn't a bad deal at all," he said.